Sep 10
3
Sell Your Data for Bargains
While many are worried about the amount of private data that’s online as large sites like Facebook take flak for distributing that data, a few startups are taking a different approach.
The data that users provide about themselves is worth money, as anyone who’s followed the debate over Facebook’s use of user data on their social networking site.
Given the potential value in this information, some startups are wondering why a more win-win approach hasn’t been taken, giving users incentive to share. Mint.com, for example, offers discounts from cable companies and banks to users who reveal personal financial data to the budgeting tips website. Clothing retailer Bluefly is doing something similar, using customer data to offer deals on related items.
Even apps like Foursquare are doing this with the location-based giants offering location-specific coupons and other incentives in return for users telling the apps where they are on the map.
These types of tradeoffs for user data are becoming more and more common as businesses realize that users are willing to give up more if they see an inventive to do so. Many in the industry see this as removing the privacy debate altogether. Since users can voluntarily give up or keep their private data, retailers who take advantage of data given to them are not violating anyone’s privacy nor are they being perceived as doing so.
It appears that the future of Web interactions with consumers will be based more and more on voluntary transparency and willingness to trade information and knowledge.
Posted in DRTV by .
Privacy concerns have long been an issue, particularly with online tracking allowing marketers to calculate extremely precise demographics about just who is clicking on ads or viewing commercials, but more recently, online and offline data have combined to create eerily specific information on any given individual.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held hearings last week to discuss whether personal information should be off-limits to marketers. One company that has come under scrutiny is data firm Aperture, which pulls data from Experian, Acxiom, and Nielsen’s Claritas along with Datran (which owns Aperture)’s database of email addresses to form precise profiles of online users.
So far, that information has been used to target ads to consumers that are tailored to their gender, age, and income bracket, among other things. The concern is that with the combination of offline and online data, privacy is being encroached.
Further, users may start to reject ads that target them too precisely simply because it makes them uncomfortable. Seeing an ad for a car that is within the consumer’s income bracket raises no red flags, but receiving an ad for Weight Watchers when one is overweight may be crossing an internal line of some sort.
According to complaints with state attorneys general, consumers are less concerned with their online privacy than they are with telemarketing, but many fear that a tipping point is just around the corner.
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Apple recently released its iAd platform amid much to-do, and so far the new ad option is showing some advantages over Apple’s direct competitor for the market, Google.
One prime example is the iAd focus on keeping prices for apps low or allowing consumers to use them for free via the use of ads. This allows app developers – including ones who use apps to promote their companies – to make money without users immediately discounting the app because of a price tag.
On the downside, larger app makers do not want to sacrifice revenue to Apple and will likely continue to sell their own mobile ads. Another feature not yet available is the use of location-based ads; Apple does not currently allow developers to show such ads.
The rivalry between Apple and Google continues to develop, with Apple obviously coming in as David to Google’s Goliath. Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief officer, confirmed that Apple had attempted to buy the mobile advertising company AdMob, but that Google had bought it out from under the gadget company.
Does this mean that Google considers the iAd offer to be a serious competitor? It remains to be seen.
May 10
6
Viacom and Google Go to Court
Viacom and Google’s legal battle over whether Google has intentionally been allowing YouTube users to post copyrighted content on the media-sharing site just got nastier – and more public.
The case is pretty simple: Viacom is saying that YouTube was actively encouraging copyrighted content on the site, while Google claims it has been policing copyrighted materials as much as they are capable of doing. Google also says that Viacom itself has posted hundreds of videos on YouTube in efforts to generate interest in their content.
So far, it looks like Google has scored quite a few hits with emails that show Viacom secretly marketed some of their shows on YouTube, effectively using the exact same tactics they are currently suing Google over using.
Google also demonstrated that Viacom could not determine the difference between content the company had posted themselves and content that independent users had posted, lending credence to the argument that 100% effective policing was not possible.
However, Viacom returned with emails showing that Google executives knew that YouTube contained copyrighted content. Google has posted some of this evidence with the original emails to show that they were taken out of context.
It looks like many more attacks will be made against each company’s character before the battle is finished.
Posted in DRTV by .
Google TV has been using an auction model for its advertisers since the media channel existed, to what their representatives say has been rousing success (Google does not release sales information for the service, but they also intend to keep using the model for the foreseeable future, which is a pretty good indicator).
But does the auction model apply once you get offline?
Julie Roehm thought so in 2005, when she first proposed the concept of an online auction for offline network advertising slots. The concept never caught on among either broadcast or cable networks, but there is beginning to be buzz as Google proves the model has merit, at least in the online market. It remains to be seen who’s willing to take the risk offline.
The tester model may be Direct Response TV, which is making a revival even in prime-time advertising slots that were previously never available to those campaigns. Direct Response relies more heavily on meeting the right audience at the right time, and ad buyers for DRTV prefer to make their bids as late in the game as possible.
This makes the shift to an auction significantly easier, since the bidding is already time-based, and it may even turn the tide in the networks’ favor, since it will be more difficult for ad buyers to get slots that others don’t know exist yet.
The potential is there. So far, though, networks remain skeptical about the value of the auction for television ad selling.
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Mar 10
20
Google Expands Into Display Ads
If you wanted to summarize the difference between Google’s advertising strategy and Yahoo’s, you could do so thusly: Google uses small text ads tailored to user’s searches, whereas Yahoo focuses on graphic display ads that do much the same thing.
Looks like the status quo is pretty close to being flipped. Google is looking into introducing an ad exchange, where advertisers and publishes can buy and sell advertising space to fill spots on Web pages. Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, has said that display advertising is one of Google’s best opportunities for expansion. Yahoo, however, is probably not thrilled about it.
The new system is called DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and it’s designed to make the process of buying and selling display advertising easy, so that more publishers and advertisers can use it. Though ad exchanges only account for 10-15% of the display advertising business, this may simply be because Google hasn’t yet gotten on board. Google remains the most popular search engine, and could easily overtake Yahoo in the exchange competition.
Yahoo continues to say it isn’t concerned and that it welcomes the competition. The folks at the search engine may very well be confident, considering their years of dominance in the ad exchange market, but it’s hard to think that any company isn’t apprehensive about the idea of Google, a giant in the industry, invading their turf.
However, because it is such a trend-setter and the leader of the pack, Google and its decision may also have an upside for Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing, as online advertisers may become more confident in the value of using an ad exchange and will start to invest more of their dollars there.
Posted in DRTV by .
The iPhone leapt to popularity in part due to the user-generated applications that made owning an iPhone a fun and interactive opportunity.
Those who might not otherwise have been persuaded, leapt on the bandwagon when they found out about a particular application that they really wanted to have – and with over 65,000 apps generated, there was bound to be something for everyone.
Now TV networks are taking the same strategy and trying to apply it to their offerings in hopes of keeping TV in the loop as media changes rapidly. TV has been a famously non-interactive experience, and many would tell you that’s part of its appeal.
Companies are experimenting with the idea that TV watching should be as interactive and social an activity as using a social media channel or Tweeting the latest on Twitter.
TV has been offering their viewers the chance to get news articles and other interactive media tailored to their needs for some time, and they’re also toying with the idea of allowing viewers to interact with one another as their favorite shows are playing; all the people watching House M.D., for example, could open an application that allows them to chat about what just happened on the show.
By opening up the field to user applications, TV networks hope to discover, just as Apple did, a few services they weren’t even aware their viewers wanted in a service – and then use those new applications for ad revenue, and to keep their own relevance high.
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Microsoft and Yahoo have joined forces in hopes of battling against the biggest of the big giants in search-engine history: Google.
Even with the merger, Microsoft and Yahoo combined only make up 28% of the search market, which, pitted against Google’s 65%, does not look like good odds. They’re not looking at the market they have, though – they’re looking at the market they could get.
One of the reasons for Microsoft and Yahoo having difficulty gaining traction in the market was the lack of advertising. Since a disproportionate number of searchers used Google compared to Microsoft (8.4%) or Yahoo (19.6%), advertisers seeking bang for their buck naturally gravitated toward the search engine provider who could give them the biggest audience.
With a much larger portion of the search market in the combined “Microhoo,” the merger has a shot at being a valuable secondary market for advertisers.
The merger also means more data sharing, which in turn allows both companies to improve the way they perform searches on Yahoo.com and the newly launched Bing.com.
Data sharing could be the key; Microsoft was able to snag an impressive portion of the market in fairly short order by using their own search engine technology to rival Google’s ability to come up with the best matches. Better technology equals better searches, which may tip more of the market to Microhoo’s side.
Google doesn’t seem threatened. Their experience, they say, is that competition brings great things for users. Maybe they’re really not evil, after all.
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Nov 09
30
Taking Advantage of the Recession
In order to survive a recession and come out the other side moving swiftly forward, two things need to happen: Your competitors still need to be stuck far behind, and you need to have used the time to create brand-new strategies that resonate with consumers just when they’re ready to spend again.
Companies have been flagging left and right, cutting their marketing budgets significantly and focusing largely on hitting short-term goals rather than looking to the future. Much of this short-sightedness is out of necessity, since companies have frequently been hit so hard they’re unable to set aside the resources to plan for future growth.
There are a few notable exceptions to this rule, however, and we’re beginning to see the results of their planning:
> Wal-Mart has distinguished itself by revamping its entire marketing campaign to build loyalty in the customers it gained during the recession. Instead of rejoicing in the current uptick in customers, Wal-Mart knows that in order to keep those new consumers when the recession turns, they’re going to need a loyalty strategy – and that’s exactly where they’re putting their efforts.
> Other companies are also making sure they catch the wave as the tide turns. Unilever and P&G are other notable companies that are starting to increase their spending and look to new innovation, ready to hit consumers with new and exciting products and practices when the pursestrings loosen again.
Another trend in recession-style business has been the elimination of monthly sales reporting, a strategy that simply removes the focus from the short-term. This means of “big picture” reporting and planning may not be contributing directly to how companies are currently marketing themselves, but it sure does reflect an overall intention to focus less on details and away from a one-month limited snapshot.
Nov 09
3
Twitter Turns a Profit
Yes, everyone’s twittering.
People who enjoy living in the world of 140 characters use it a lot and they talk about everything under the sun – but may never ask themselves what Twitter gets out of the deal.
From a marketing perspective, Twitter’s seeming ambivalence about making any money out of its extraordinarily popular social media tool echoes the sentiment many of an older generation are still expressing about tweeting: “What’s the point?”
The point, as it turns out, is that Twitter has a viable commercial use.
Companies are using Twitter to communicate with their customers, to find out what they like and don’t like, to offer customer service and answer questions, and simply to create a personal relationship that will be effective in maintaining loyalty to the brand.
Twitter is now talking about the possibility of creating commercial accounts that those companies would use for a fee. They may finally have gotten companies to the point where Twitter is a tool they’d pay not to do without.
And that is a pretty big point. In fact, it’s probably a bottom line.
